Jacksonville friends Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, Larry Junstrom, Gary Rossington, and Bob Burns formed the band in 1964 under the name "The Noble Five". They later renamed themselves "My Backyard" in 1965, "Leonard Skinner" (a rather authoritarian teacher at their former high school who disapproved of male students with long hair) in 1970, and "Lynyrd Skynyrd" in 1972. The band released its first album, (pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd), in 1973 — and, in the process, forever cemented the song "Free Bird" as a permanent part of the rock'n'roll lexicon. (The next time you hear someone shout "Play 'Free Bird'!" at a concert, you now know who to blame).

Although the group never topped charts (their biggest hit, "Sweet Home Alabama", topped out at #8 on Billboard), Skynyrd remains beloved by tons rock fans, especially in the South, where fans embraced the band as a counter to the "protest bands" that popped up in the '60s. ("Sweet Home Alabama" even took a few direct shots at Neil Young for some of his protest songs, despite the off-stage friendship between Young and Van Zant.)

In 1977, a plane crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines (who had performed on the band's just-released Street Survivors album), his sister Cassie (a member of the band's backup singers, The Honkettes), and several members of the band's production staff. (The crash also injured bassist Leon Wilkeson, who needed over two years of physical therapy to recover.) The band disbanded after the tragedy, but reformed ten years later with Ronnie's younger brother Johnny and a rotating cast of new blood. Of the original members, only Rossington remains; Van Zant and Collins have both passed on, Larry Junstrom plays bass for .38 Special (led by Ronnie's other brother Donnie), and Bob Burns quit after the road life overwhelmed him.

The band Lynyrd Skynyrd and its music provide examples of the following tropes:

Answer Song: "Sweet Home Alabama" serves as one of these (and a Take That) to Neil Young's 1970 Protest Song "Southern Man," which criticized the rampant racism in the American South at the time. The song defends the South, directly calls out "Mr. Young", and dismisses his criticism. Young, a friend of Ronnie Van Zant, didn't take the song personally — hell, he's even performed it on occasion.

Bowdlerize: Apparently the intended lyric in "Gimme 3 Steps" was "Wait a minute mister I didn't even stick her" but it was changed to "kiss her" in the radio version. Ronnie would still sing the "stick her" line in concert.

Breakup Song: "Tuesday's Gone" and "Free Bird" are both about relationships coming to an end.

Bring My Brown Pants: Implied to happen to the narrator of "Gimme 3 Steps" as he's staring down the gun of Linda Lou's boyfriend.

Well the crowd cleared away

And I began to pray

And the water fell on the floor

Empty Chair Memorial: After the plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant, their next concert had a spotlight shining on an unmanned microphone.

Epic Rocking: "Free Bird" (naturally), "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Tuesday's Gone" qualify. Live versions of "Free Bird" often run over thirteen minutes!

It Is Pronounced Tro PAY: The title of their debut album (Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd)) notes this.

Mercy Lead: "Gimme 3 Steps" is about begging the a very pissed off boyfriend whose girl the narrator unknowingly hit on to give one of these.

No One Could Survive That: The litany of injuries the surviving band members suffered in the 1977 plane crash, along with the utter devastation of the crash itself, makes a lot of people wonder how the hell anyone could have survived the crash.

Fearless Fool: Ronnie reportedly died because he didn't like wearing seatbelts and decided to sit in the middle of the plane's aisle

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